1. Technical Field
The present invention is directed generally toward a method, computer program product, and data processing system for user notification of an event. More specifically, the present invention is directed toward a method, computer program product, and data processing system for notifying a user that a delay due to a necessary powering up of a peripheral device is occurring.
2. Description of Related Art
The manipulation of data in a data processing system is well known in the prior art. Data may be manipulated in many ways in a modern state-of-the-art data processing system including: data accessing, data encoding, data communications, data compression, data conversion, data entry, data exchange, data filing, data linking, data locking, data manipulation, data mapping, data modeling, data processing, data recording, data sorting, and data transferring. The large amounts of data that are available to the user of modern state-of-the-art data processing systems often become overwhelming in magnitude and complexity. These situations may often arise in the creation and execution of multimedia presentations.
Data processing systems are capable of communicating information to users in many formats, including: text, graphics, sounds, animated graphics, synthesized speech, and video. Multimedia presentations employ a data processing system to combine such information formats into a coherent and comprehensive presentation to the user.
As a result of the increasing complexity of data processing systems and with the introduction of multimedia presentations, attempts have been made to simplify the interface between a user and the large amounts of data present within a modern data processing system. One example of an attempt to simplify the interface between a user and a data processing system is the utilization of a so-called graphic user interface (GUI) to provide an intuitive and graphical interface between the user and the data processing system. A GUI is an interface system, including devices, by which a user interacts with a system, system components, and/or system applications via windows or view ports, icons, menus, pointing devices, etc.
Although GUIs have made manipulation of data easier for users in some instances, GUIs have created new problems. For example, a user working in an application frequently selects items from an application menu toolbar. This interaction will require the user to move a pointer via a mouse over a graphical object such as a menu, icon, or control to make a selection.
The term “mouse,” when used in this document, refers to any type of operating system supported graphical pointing device including, but not limited to: a mouse, track ball, touch pad, light pin, touch screen, and the like. A pointing device is typically employed by a user of the data processing system to interact with the data processing system's GUI. A “mouse cursor” or “pointer” is an iconic image controlled by a mouse or other such device, and is displayed on the video display device of a data processing system to visually indicate to the user icons, menus, or other types of graphical objects that may be selected or manipulated.
A typical graphical user interface will not only allow a user to perform operations with the mouse, but also will display some kind of information to the user regarding the status of the data processing system. An example of this is an icon showing that a document is printing or a mouse cursor changing to an hourglass shape to inform the user that the user must wait for processing to occur before proceeding.
In some instances, such status displays can have a comforting effect on a user who needs feedback and reassurance that the system is doing what it is supposed to be doing. A good example of this is an iconic display to show when data is being received or transmitted by a modem. Such an iconic display is used in Windows 95, an operating system produced by Microsoft, Inc. of Redmond, Wash. When a user is downloading a file or web page and the system seems to take an inordinate amount of time to do so, it is comforting to a user to know that data is being successfully transmitted or received.
One particular area where this comforting effect would be desirable is when a power management delay or “power-up” delay occurs. Certain peripheral devices in a data processing system, including storage devices such as disk drives in particular, can be deactivated or “powered down” by an operating system during times of low usage. Powering down a device, as the name implies, reduces energy consumption.
Often, however, a powered-down device will need to be “powered up” again, such as when an operating system employing virtual memory needs to retrieve the next set of instructions or data from a disk drive. When this occurs, the data processing system will often be forced to wait for the device to power up. In the case of a disk drive, this means waiting for the drive motor to come up to speed, which can take several seconds.
While this waiting takes place, the user is often unable to do anything, except perhaps move a mouse cursor in some instances. At least while the power-up delay is taking place, this looks no different than a system crash, where a system grinds to a halt in response to some malfunction.
It is understandably disconcerting to a user when the system goes into such a delay mode. A user who is unable to tell whether his or her data processing system is operating properly is liable to become angry, scared, or otherwise emotionally disturbed. A user in such a predicament may resort to any number of undesirable or destructive behaviors, including those that end up destroying the user's own data.
What is needed, then, is a means for reassuring a user that a power-up delay, rather than a malfunction, is occurring.